Health Care Higher Education Research Articles

An Education Intervention Addressing Health Students’ COVID-19 Vaccine Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviours

Background: COVID-19 impacted higher education (HE) students studying health degrees with an embedded placement in a unique way. At the height of the pandemic AHPRA declared that health students completing placements were required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and be competent at providing advice and information about the COVID-19 vaccine to the public. It is yet to be determined if there is hesitancy amongst students studying health degrees. This study aimed to determine if offering an evidence-based targeted educational intervention changes health student knowledge, attitudes, and willingness to have the vaccine. Methods: An evidence-based educational intervention was developed and delivered to students studying health. A purpose developed survey was designed to assess health students’ knowledge, and willingness to have the COVID-19 vaccine, before and after this targeted educational intervention. Results: A total of 290 students from eight health disciplines completed the intervention and pre- and post-surveys. Analyses demonstrated a statistically significant increase in participants’ willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and how confident participants felt about explaining Covid vaccines and their safety, with an increase in accuracy of knowledge about professional responsibility. Conclusion: This study shows that targeted educational intervention can positively influence HE health care students. Increasing the knowledge and confidence of our trainee health professionals is paramount to enable them to be sources of accurate information and advice in relation to Covid vaccination.

Enhancing Health Care Education and Practice Post COVID

Enhancing Health Care Education and Practice Post COVID

Open Educational Resource-Enabled Pedagogy to Improve Student Outcomes in Nutrition Course

Online learning is a critical component of higher education. In 2017, the US Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics reported that one-third of all college and university students were enrolled in at least 1 online course. 1 Ginder SA Kelly-Reid JE Mann FB Enrollment and Employees in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2017; and Financial Statistics and Academic Libraries, Fiscal Year 2017: First Look (Provisional Data). NCES 2019-021rev. National Center for Education Statistics, US Department of Education, 2019https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019021REV.pdfDate accessed: February 19, 2021 Google Scholar In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak, online course delivery has flourished, 2 Adedoyin OB, Soykan E. Covid-19 pandemic and online learning: the challenges and opportunities [published online ahead of print September 2, 2020]. Interact Learn Environ.https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2020.1813180. Google Scholar but there are still unique challenges in online instruction: feelings of isolation, 3 Gillet-Swan J The challenges of online learning: supporting and engaging the isolated learner. J Learn Des. 2017; 10: 20-30 Google Scholar perceived lack of rigor/effectiveness, 1 Ginder SA Kelly-Reid JE Mann FB Enrollment and Employees in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2017; and Financial Statistics and Academic Libraries, Fiscal Year 2017: First Look (Provisional Data). NCES 2019-021rev. National Center for Education Statistics, US Department of Education, 2019https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019021REV.pdfDate accessed: February 19, 2021 Google Scholar lack of student engagement, 4 Stott P The perils of a lack of student engagement: reflections of a “lonely, brave, and rather exposed” online instructor. Br J Educ Technol. 2014; 47: 51-64 Crossref Scopus (14) Google Scholar greater student attrition, 5 Lee Y Choi J A review of online course dropout research: implications for practice and future research. Educ Technol Res Dev. 2011; 59: 593-618 Crossref Scopus (260) Google Scholar and participation barriers for under-represented students. 6 Baum S McPherson M The human factor: the promise & limits of online education. Daedalus. 2019; 149: 235-254 Crossref Google Scholar Although blended and flipped classroom formats offer promising approaches to overcome these obstacles, 7 Evans L Vanden Bosch ML Harrington S Schoofs N Coviak C Flipping the classroom in health care higher education: a systematic review. Nurse Educ. 2019; 44: 74-78 Crossref PubMed Scopus (20) Google Scholar , 8 Hew KF Lo CK Flipped classroom improves student learning in health professions education: a meta-analysis. BMC Med Educ. 2018; 18: 38 Crossref PubMed Scopus (202) Google Scholar , 9 Liu Q Peng W Zhang F Hu R Li Y Yan W The effectiveness of blended learning in health professions: systematic review and meta-analysis. J Med Internet Res. 2016; 18: e2 Crossref PubMed Scopus (207) Google Scholar courses that are taught entirely asynchronously online face many challenges.

Toward an inclusive evidence-based practice model: Embracing a broader conception of professional knowledge in health care and health care higher education

Toward an inclusive evidence-based practice model: Embracing a broader conception of professional knowledge in health care and health care higher education

Flipping the Classroom in Health Care Higher Education: A Systematic Review.

The flipped classroom is an approach to teaching with independent and asynchronous study of content by students and active learning during scheduled class times. The purpose of this review was to systematically examine research on the use of the flipped classroom approach in health professions education. Eleven electronic databases were searched for peer-reviewed literature from 2005 through September 2017. Inclusion criteria for studies addressed health professions students and quantitative outcomes (quizzes, examinations, course grades). Of the 49 articles identified, 24 met the inclusion criteria. The majority of studies (n = 17) noted a significant improvement in at least 1 student academic outcome using the flipped classroom compared with the traditional lecture. This systematic review of the effects of the flipped classroom approach for the education of health professions students did not reveal compelling evidence for the effectiveness of the method in improving academic outcomes above that of traditional classroom approaches.

Exploring Mobile Mixed Reality in Healthcare Higher Education: A Systematic Review

Background: The evolution of technology and simulation has had a significant impact on clinical education. However, it remains grounded in traditional teaching paradigms, limiting potential for enhanced learning. Furthermore, the impact of mixed reality enabled mobile devices remains underexplored. Purpose: The aim of this article was to investigate mobile learning and mixed reality in healthcare higher education. Method: A search of six databases from the earliest available date to 30 February 2018 and a hand search of journals and included studies was performed. Inclusion criteria focused on ‘healthcare’, ‘higher education’, ‘mobile learning’ and ‘mixed reality’. All study designs were included, though they were limited to the English language. The checklist of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis was used as a framework for the review, with included studies critiqued using the mixed methods appraisal tool. Results: The search generated 1484 studies, with 18 meeting inclusion criteria. The majority of studies utilised mobile mixed reality (mMR) for teaching procedural skills with established mobile platforms; anatomy; and clinical assessment. mMR demonstrated benefits in skill competency and knowledge scores when compared to control. Users were favourable towards future use of mMR. Conclusion: While mMR successfully delivered some clinical skills; the pedagogical impact of engagement with higher order clinical reasoning remains a challenge for future studies. Published: 27 November 2018 This paper is part of the special collection Mobile Mixed Reality Enhanced Learning , edited by Thom Cochrane, Fiona Smart, Helen Farley and Vickel Narayan. More papers from this collection can be found here . Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2018, 26 : 2131 - http://dx.doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v26.2131

Becoming an educational leader – exploring leadership in medical education

Research on educational leadership emphasizes the importance of having institutional leaders heavily involved with advanced instructional programming. Best practices for developing educational leadership in higher education health care and medical faculties have to be better understood. Within the framework of a seminar series, researchers and practitioners were involved in a dialogical process of inquiry, coupled with an explicit activity-oriented approach emphasizing empowerment among educational leaders. In a reflective paper, 10 participants of the seminar series elaborated on what it meant to develop and to ‘take’ leadership in your professional role and which factors that were identified as adding value to the development of professional leadership expertise. Qualitative content analysis was conducted resulting in thirteen categories reported in relation to Wenger’s theory of communities of practice. The findings show that educational leadership involves processes on the levels of students, teachers as community and at the organizational level. The individuals created a place for backstage conversations at which they got opportunity to develop their thinking and inspiration to break new ideas into their own educational communities. In addition, a systemic approach is essential for the effective implementation of educational leadership to reach all levels via interaction and communication across an organization.

An Australian Story: Paramedic Education and Practice in Transition

In Australia, western medicine and the majority of allied healthcare professions are regulated via statutory regulation. For most of these allied healthcare professions, education has moved into the higher education (HE) sector and universities. The profession of paramedics is undergoing a transition in terms of scope of practice, and in particular education, moving from a post-employment model characterised by on-the-job training, to a pre-employment model, essentially full time university-based Bachelor degree education, similar to the change that occurred in nursing in Australia many years ago. How to produce work-ready graduates in the healthcare professions is of concern for educators and professional associations. Research into work-readiness in several healthcare fields has yielded important information that may be utilised by paramedic and other allied healthcare educators to improve courses. This paper discusses issues of transition of HE healthcare graduates into the workforce that need to be considered by educators, with a particular focus on the profession of paramedics in Australia. It also summarises key findings of research into work-readiness in a range of healthcare professions.

Is higher education ready for the information revolution?

Background: The management of chronic conditions has evolved to include tele-rehabilitation systems but are these changes being realised in practice and is the increasing adoption of networked environments refected in pre-registration health education? This paper outlines a scoping exercise which explores current health informatics education in regional higher education institutions for medical, nursing, and allied health professions pre-registration curricula in England. Aims: to establish whether health informatics (HI) competencies are integral to regional higher education (HE) health care programmes and whether graduates would be equipped to work safely and effectively within networked primary care, secondary care and rehabilitation centres. Methods: a mixed research model was adopted; generating data from a regional sample of education providers offering pre-registration medical, nursing, and/or allied health professional programmes. Data collection was by way of online survey and interviews. From 27 identified regional programmes, academics (n=14) representing nine different medical and health professions responded via interview and online questionnaire; a response rate of 51%. Students representing eight health professions (n=186) responded to online questionnaires. Findings: Basic information communications technology (ICT) skills, information literacy, and knowledge management are well supported within the identified programmes of study. However, several endorsed informatics standards are not fully integrated. Time constraints and a shortage of expertise were identified as barriers to integration. Sixty-one percent of students would value more access to, and training on clinical information systems. Conclusions: The report revealed limitations in the provision of informatics education; within HE health care curricula and offers recommendations to improve practice.

Virtual Worlds in Health Care Higher Education

Advances in information technology bring progress in distance education. Online education programs are pervasive, however, only recently has the Web 2.0 brought about interactive, dynamic distance based health care education in virtual worlds (VWs). VWs allow for real time representations of environments, manipulable objects and interactions between avatars or bots, creating a sense of realism and presence that is absent in traditional, flat online education. Presence has been linked to knowledge transfer and better learning. Second Life®, currently the largest virtual world, has been used in higher education, including health care education at the Duke University School of Nursing. Students have indicated higher levels of satisfaction with the learning environment and quality of instruction in this VW compared to other online learning systems. There is a need for further research in online education in VWs, and room for growth in applications of VWs in education.

Service learning in health care higher education: risk or not to risk.

The explosion of service learning as a teaching methodology in higher education has generated increased awareness of the potential for liability related to student experiences with service partnerships all over the world. At present, there are few instances of legal problems occurring using service learning with students, but risk management not risk avoidance may be the best form of preventing legal problems from occurring. Reviewing areas of potential liability with the service partner, the student, faculty and college institution for possible risks may reduce future problems. Strategies for dealing with potential identified risks are discussed in this article including identified agency risks, the capacities of the students, employment status, liability insurance, and agency incorporation. Reducing the risk with students includes evaluating the harm to and by students, assessing the student population, prerequisite courses, assumptions, developmental age of the student, good communication and use of an honor Code. The higher education institutions and faculty may reduce risk by instituting student contracts, maintaining student privacy, and using waivers. Good risk management through preparation of all involved in service learning projects is the key to success.